Tennis: Frenchman dumps tired Rios

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Marcelo Rios came, did not conquer but generally made no excuses after being dumped out in the first round of the Auckland international tennis tournament by unseeded Frenchman Arnaud Di Pasquale yesterday.

The only question to which Rios wanted answers was over the timing of the match after he had lost 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (2-7) in an absorbing 108-minute centre court battle at Stanley St on the second day of the Heineken Open.

Suggestions that Rios had requested a late afternoon rather than evening match were strongly denied by the 25-year-old Chilean.

"I never requested an afternoon game," said Rios, who had had a 38-hour trek from Doha, Qatar, where he won a $US1 million tournament on Sunday.

"Obviously, I should have played at seven o'clock. I think it is unfair. But that's the way of the ATP."

Tournament director Graham Pearce said later that there had been a request - he was not sure from whom - that Rios wanted a late afternoon game.

Originally scheduled for "not before four," the match actually started at 4.59 pm.

Rios also dismissed reports he was suffering a back injury by saying he was just a little sore.

He added: "It really hurts to lose like this."

But nothing was being taken away from his 21-year-old opponent who came to Auckland with some handy credentials.

Di Pasquale was a bronze medallist at last year's Sydney Olympics, and beat Pete Sampras in Hamburg earlier in the year.

Rios broke the Frenchman in his first service game and again in the seventh and ninth to take the first set 6-3 in 36 minutes.

The second set was even quicker. Rios, broken four times, went down 1-6.

The third set was a thriller. Both players were broken on their opening serves, and Rios again in the fourth game. He trailed 2-5 before clawing his way back with an exquisite all-court game to 5-5.

After breaking Di Pasquale in the 11th game, Rios had match point at 40-30 in the next, but failed to convert and it headed to the tiebreaker.

Rios barely raised a yelp as the Frenchman, voted in 1999 as one of the 14 most sexy men of the summer, raced away to take it 7-2.

"I think Rios was a bit tired today," Di Pasquale said later.

"It was a good win for me, but he has an excuse.

"I was impressed by the way he played.

"He has no weakness and I think I got lucky when he had match point."

Sixth-seed Rios was joined as a first-round loser by eighth seed Fernando Vicente (Spain), who went down in straight sets, 2-6, 2-6, to American qualifier Michael Russell.

Another American qualifier, Glenn Weiner, got through in three over Olivier Rochus (Belgium), while a third to come through qualifying, Italian Marzio Martelli, beat countryman Davide Sanguinetti in straight sets.

Today, unseeded Andrei Medvedev and Juan Balcells square off on the centre court.

In the night session, wildcard Greg Rusedski - he of the booming serve - meets fifth seed Byron Black, of Zimbabwe.

Rusedski, after beating New Zealand's Mark Nielsen in a solid two-setter 6-4, 6-4, said he felt he had played some good tennis.